Tombstone of the Day: An American Success Story Few Have Heard

This is a daily series telling the story of the tombstones of people
who are historically important and interesting as they relate to the
Battle of Gettysburg. The series runs through July 4, marking the 150th
anniversary of the battle.

By Joe Farley, Joe Farrell and Lawrence Knorr

John White Geary has a county in Kansas named for him. Kansas also has a Geary State

Close up of John Geary's tombstone in Harrisburg Cemetery.

Park. There is a Geary Boulevard in San Francisco, California named in his honor. There is a Geary Street in both New Cumberland (where he owned a home) and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Not to be left out, there is a Geary Street in South Philadelphia as well. There is a monument honoring Geary in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. There is a dorm building at the Pennsylvania State University named Geary Hall. Finally, on August 11, 2007, a statue honoring Geary was unveiled on the Gettysburg Battlefield at Culp’s Hill. Clearly, he was a man who got around.

John Geary (Pennsylvania State Archives)

Geary arrived at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, after the fighting on the first day had died down. The following day, his division was placed on Culp’s Hill - a position that represented the Union Army’s right flank. Early in the afternoon, Geary and his men heard fighting to their left. Geary was ordered to vacate Culp’s Hill and follow the division led by General Alpheus S. Williams which was already pulling out. The orders Geary received did not indicate where Williams was heading and by the time Geary’s men were ready to move Williams and his men were out of sight. The last Geary had seen of Williams he was heading south down the Baltimore Pike, so Geary set off in that direction. He was unable to find Williams and actually marched his men off of the battlefield. Fortunately for Geary, he and his troops were not needed at the intended destination because fighting there had ceased for the day. Geary decided to return to Culp’s Hill. The following day, Geary’s division fought

from daybreak until about 11:00 a.m. He and his men repulsed repeated Confederate assaults, and ultimately were successful in driving the Confederates off the hill. They had succeeded in holding the Union’s right flank. The action on Culp’s Hill cemented Geary’s reputation as a Civil War hero.

Knorr had a personal connection to the subject matter; he's a
relative of Union Major General John Reynolds, who died on the first day
of battle. The three of them collaborated on this latest version of
Keystone Tombstones. As you will see with this daily feature, there were
no shortage of interesting stories to choose from, since the Battle of
Gettysburg produced 7,600 Confederates and Union soldier deaths and
51,000 casualties.

Over the course of the next 18 days, leading up to the anniversary of
the battle at the beginning of July, Knorr, Farrell and Farley will
introduce a Gettysburg 150 "Tombstone of the Day". The post will look at
are tombstones of residents, soldiers, generals and other historically
significant individuals.